Notice of Mandatory LCM Filings:All South Carolina workers’ compensation insurers are required to file updated loss cost multipliers (LCMs) by April 1, 2018, to take effect no later than August 1, 2018.This action is required so that rates may be adjusted to properly reflect the reduction in costs brought about by the cessation of South Carolina’s Second Injury Fund (SIF) assessments.

The Property and Casualty Unit reviews and analyzes rates, rules, and forms for property and casualty insurance products such as automobile,workers’ compensation, and homeowners insurance.

The information contained on this webpage is intended to be used as a tool by P&C insurers to properly prepare and submit filings to the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Please know that improper and/or incomplete filings will result in a rejection or disapproval of the filing.

All rate, rule and/or form filings must be submitted via SERFF. Filings must be submitted by insurer and by line of business. Multiple insurers within a group may submit a single SERFF filing.

For more information about SERFF, please contact SERFF (1-816-783-8787 or serffmktg@naic.org).

The South Carolina Department of Insurance will review filings for compliance; however it remains the responsibility of the insurer to adhere to all applicable federal and State of South Carolina insurance laws, regulations and policies.

Highlights of The Insurance Law:Definitions for The Insurance Law - SC Code Section 38-1-20Property, Casualty, Inland Marine, Surety Rates and Rate-making Organizations - Title 38, Chapter 73Property, Casualty, and Title Insurance Generally - Title 38, Chapter 75Automobile Insurance - Title 38, Chapter 77Exempt Commercial Policies - Regulation 69-64*
*Note: Insurers establishing rates and rules for an exempt product must still comply with the law. The fact that a filing may be "Exempt" simply means that it does not need to be filed; the laws still apply. The Department recommends that a filing be prepared and maintained by the insurer in a file that we refer to as a "Desk File". When conducting examinations, the Department may ask for such a file. Also, from time to time, the Department may survey insurers concerning rate levels. Filings made to the Department will be stamped "Exempt". This is to indicate that the Department did receive the filing. Please see Regulation 69-64 for additional detail.

Notice:Bulletin 2017-03 has been issued to notify insurers of a recent legislative change impacting automobile insurance coverage. Beginning on 11/19/2018, mopeds will be included in the statutory definition of a motor vehicle for the purposes of uninsured and underinsured motor vehicle insurance coverages. Filings related to this change should be made in SERFF no later than 6/1/2018. Please see the bulletin for full details.

Notice:Bulletin 2017-11 has been issued to notify insurers of a recent legislative change impacting the electronic delivery of insurance transactions in South Carolina. This law goes into effect January 1, 2018. Filings related to this change should be made in accordance with the timelines outlined in Section V of the bulletin (p.6).

Typos, Effective Date Changes -If a carrier requests a filing be re-opened to make a non-substantial change, such as typo correction or a change in the effective date, the original filing can be re-opened. Contact the analyst assigned to the filing to coordinate this action. If a carrier makes a filing to make a non-substantial change, such as typo correction or a change in the effective date, the original state tracking number must be referenced in the filing.

Adoption/Delay Adoption Filings - Except in the case of workers' compensation loss costs, the law does not require these filings be made. The original filing is made by a rating organization and subject to approval provisions. These filings, if submitted, will be treated as exempt.

Optional Fee Schedules - Optional fees are subject to the limitations and filing requirements set forth in Bulletins 2006-08, 2007-11 and 2013-11.

Fire Protection Classes - The Department permits the use of proprietary/rating organizations' fire protection classes. The fire protection classes must be filed with the Department and approved prior to use.

Scheduled Debits and Credits - Schedule debits may not exceed a maximum of 25% of the standard rate nor shall schedule credits exceed 40% of the standard rate. For workers' compensation, the maximum credit or debit is 25%.

Waiver of Premium Refund – An insurer may file to waive a return premium that is less than a specified amount, but that amount must be refunded to the insured upon request.

Rate Tiers - The Department allows the use of rate tiering. Separate tiers within one company must be filed with the Department. The tiers must be mutually exclusive if filed within one company.

Rate Capping – A one-term cap may be approved to limit policyholder disruption, but the manual rate must be achieved when the cap is removed at the next policy renewal. A transition plan is another form of rate capping, which may be approved as a transition from one rating plan to another rating plan over a period of time (no more than 3 years).

Multiple Rating or Rule Plans – Rates or Rule that create different rates for risks with the same rating characteristics are not acceptable as they are considered unfairly discriminatory. The Department may approve a transition plan to temporarily limit renewal disruption caused by a rating or rule plan change.

Credit Scoring / Insurance Score:
Credit scoring may be used in underwriting and in rating of policies. If used in rating, the specific criteria used in calculating the credit score must be filed with the Department and the filing must include loss experience justifying the applicable surcharge or credit.

The following requirements will be imposed upon insurers that intend to use credit scoring:

1. credit scoring will not be allowed as the sole factor upon which any insurer makes its decision not insure an individual risk,2. credit scoring may be used to rate individual insureds among tiers,3. the Department will require the individual insurers, as part of their rate filings, include listings of factors used to score individual risks, the methodology used to develop each factor and the weights given to each factor,4. any filer may request that its data be kept proprietary as a commercially-valuable trade secret and designate parts or all of its filings accordingly. The Department, absent court order, will not release information which is filed on a proprietary basis. Section 30-4-40(1),5. each insurer must justify, by appropriate actuarial data, each tier's rate for both liability and physical damage as separate calculations,6. no hit/no score factors should be equal to the average policyholder’s score (the intent of this rule is to set the no hit/no score factor to the same level as for the average policyholders’ score in the insurer’s book of business, such that the factor being applied to the no hit/no score level is treated as if insurance risk score did not apply), and7. insureds may request the ordering of a new score every twelve months.

Automobile Specific Positions:

Paintless Dent Repair - It is the Department’s position that insurers should not limit payment based upon repair method such as “Dentless Repair.”

Diminution of Value - The Department allows this to be excluded.

Expense Constants – As long as a policy fee is not being charged, expense constants are allowed as long as they become part of the premium charged.

Declarations Page – Insurer name, address, and phone number are required on the front of the Declarations page unless such information is provided on the front of the insurer’s policy contract.

Hurricane models approved for use in South Carolina:(Updated 02/13/2018)

Modeler

Hurricane Model

Version

Approval Date

Anticipated Expiration Date

AIR

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

14.0.1

03/12/2014

07/01/2018

AIR

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

14.1.0

01/06/2016

07/01/2018

AIR

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

15.0.1

07/14/2016

07/01/2019

AIR

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

15.0.2

11/07/2016

07/01/2019

AIR

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

16.0.0

02/13/2018

TBD

AIR

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

16.1.0

02/13/2018

TBD

CoreLogic

Risk Quantification and Engineering

14

03/12/2014

07/01/2018

CoreLogic

Risk Quantification and Engineering

16

07/14/2016

TBD

RMS

RiskLink

13.0

07/14/2016

07/01/2018

RMS

RiskLink

15.0

07/14/2016

TBD

RMS

RiskLink

15.0.1

07/14/2016

TBD

If a company is using an unapproved model, then it will need to provide the following:

Explan​ation of why the company is using the selected model

Differences between the approved and selected model

Impact of the model selection on loss costs and indication calculation

Approval and expiration dates set by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology

**Companies must complete the CAT-Home exhibit included in the Property Actuarial Exhibits workbook below for any property insurance rate filing submission.**

Program Withdrawal Procedure:

If an insurance company or group wishes to nonrenew (withdraw) all policies within a line of insurance, then the following information is required within a SERFF filing in order to protect the interests of the insurer's policyholders during the course of its nonrenewal (withdrawal) of coverage from the market (only respond to those items applicable to the line of business in question):

Reason for nonrenewal (withdrawal)

Number of in-force policies being nonrenewed and associated in-force premium

Nonrenewal start and end dates

Confirmation that the insurer will comply with all nonrenewal statutes and regulations

Confirmation that the insurer would need to re-file rates, rules, and forms if it would like to write this line of insurance again in the future

Confirmation that the insurer will notify the Associated Auto Insurers Plan of South Carolina (AAIPSC) for personal auto or the Commercial Automobile Insurance Plan (CAIP) for commercial auto

Number of nonrenewals by month and by county for non-inland marine personal property lines

Copy of the nonrenewal or cancellation notice that will be sent to policyholders in the event that policyholders will not be sent a renewal offer with another insurer within the same group

If the insurer wishes to renew the nonrenewed policies into another insurer within the same group, then the following additional information should be included in the mandatory SERFF filing:

Confirm whether or not all policyholders will receive a renewal offer with another insurance company within the same group

Provide a copy of the notice that will be sent to policyholders stating that they will be nonrenewed in their current company and then offered a renewal by another insurer (this notice should identify any coverage differences between the current and new policies)

Actuarial Exhibits for Rate FilingsThe following exhibits have been prepared as a part of the Department's speed to market initiative. These exhibits are based on acceptable rating methodologies and represent the data elements the Department relies upon in the review of P&C rate filings. Carriers that submit this information will greatly reduce the review time for their filings.

Workers Compensation Forms 2007-A, 2009-A and 2009-B are included as worksheets within the Workers Compensation Actuarial Exhibits. To ensure the quality of the premium data used by the NCCI to forecast loss costs, it is necessary that insurance company personnel understand how to properly calculate earned premiums at the designated statistical reporting level (i.e., DSR level). The NCCI has developed effective training programs to explain these calculations to company personnel. In order to verify that company personnel are receiving the necessary training, the Department requires the Insurer Certification, Form 2009-B, to be included with all filings affecting workers' compensation insurance rates.